Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration

Can Orthodox Christianity offer spiritual resources uniquely suited to the environmental concerns of today? This book makes the case emphatically that it can indeed. In addition to being the first substantial and comprehensive collection of essays, in any language, to address environmental issues from the Orthodox point of view, this volume (with contributions from many of the most influential theologians and philosophers in contemporary world Orthodoxy) will engage a wide audience, in academic as well as popular circles—resonating not only with Orthodox audiences but with all those in search of a fresh approach to environmental theory and ethics that can bring to bear the resources of ancient spirituality, often virtually unknown in the West, on modern challenges and dilemmas.

Chryssavgis John :

The Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis is Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne and a clergyman of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, where he serves as theological advisor in the office of Inter Orthodox and ecumenical relations. He is also theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental affairs. He studied in Athens and Oxford, as well as taught in Sydney and Boston. The author of numerous books and articles on Orthodox theology, spirituality, and ecology, he has edited three volumes containing the selected writings of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Fordham University Press, 2010–12) and co-edited the signature anthology on Orthodoxy and the environment, Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration: Orthodox Christian Perspectives on Environment, Nature, and Creation (Fordham). He lives in Harpswell, Maine.Bartholomew Ecumenical Patriarch :

His all Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians, is the 270th successor of St. Andrew the Apostle, who founded the 2,000-year-old Church of Constantinople. For his efforts to raise environmental awareness, he was named by Time magazine as one of the world’s most influential people.

The contribution of Orthodox theology to the topic of environmental destruction has long been awaited in many Western Christian and secular groups alike. This definitive collection is that response, reflecting variations as diverse as its people, but more importantly, giving them a forum from which real debate on the relationship between the human and the rest of creation may finally arise.

This anthology is a monumental contribution to the literature on religion and ecology. The abundant contributions of the Orthodox tradition to seeing into the sacred depths of nature are evident in this rich collection of essays. It will stand as a classic in the field for years to come and help reshape reflections on our shared planetary future.---—Mary Evelyn Tucker, Forum on Religion at Ecology at Yale

“I must say from the onset that my enthusiasm can hardly be contained!. . . . To my knowledge there are no books currently being offered that provide the depth and scholarship found here. . . . This manuscript has gathered the best in the field and collated them into what certainly can become a foundational text book for further academic study.”---—Rev. Chad Hatfield, Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

“I rate this as perhaps the signature work on Orthodoxy and the Environment (and Nature) available in English. [Its] range of topics and specializations make it useful for people who are not Orthodox and for those with diverse academic backgrounds. It is difficult to imagine anyone who cannot learn or benefit from some chapters or parts of this book.”---—Daniel P. Buxhoeveden, Research Professor, Founder and Director of the Religion and Science Initiative, University of South Carolina